History of Science

In an information-rich age, one of my main functions as a librarian isn't helping people find material, but helping them evaluate the material they find.

NOAA data suggests that 2014 is on a trend to edge out 2010 as the warmest year on record globally

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—What happens in the brains of people who see Jesus in a piece of toast? What are the physics of slipping on a banana peel?

He would dab on a bit of cocaine to anesthetize his eyes first. Then, to prevent air getting in, Müller would insert the lenses with his eyes under water.

At a 1990 conference on cosmology, I asked attendees, who included folks like Stephen Hawking, Michael Turner, James Peebles, Alan Guth and Andrei Linde, to nominate the smartest living physicist.

Tonight, Google will announce the winners of its fourth annual Google Science Fair, which Scientific American co-sponsors. Watch the awards ceremony here live.

The Sunday morning rush hour is not usually known for packing people into subway cars like sardines. But September 21, 2014 was not your average Sunday commute as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, Americans from across the country and foreign contingents converged on Columbus Circle and Central Park West for the People’s Climate March.

Experiments at a particle accelerator have confirmed the "time dilation" effect predicted by Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity

Last Friday I joined a contingent of Caltech physicists (including the Time Lord) for an afternoon of curling — yeah, you heard me, curling — in honor of Caltech theoretical physicist Mark Wise‘s 60th birthday.

As I write this, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens is preparing an exhibit showcasing the work of Dick Rauh, a botanical illustrator who has distinguished himself as a master of botanical illustration since he picked up a pen and paper in his retirement.

Scientists who do not typically take a policy position make an exception for climate change

Who doesn’t love the first, the original “Symphony of Science” tune, “Carl Sagan – ‘A Glorious Dawn’ ft Stephen Hawking”?